Educational Attainment and Economic Development in India

The paper examines the relationship between different levels of educational attainment and economic performance at the micro level of an individual and at the macro level, across the States of India, for the period 2001 to 2011. Using secondary sources of data, the paper observes significant increase in educational attainment in India in the period 2001-2011 across the three levels of education – primary, secondary, and higher and skill-providing education. It is interesting to observe a quantum increase in persons acquiring higher and skill based education. But the gap has widened between the relatively well-to-do and the poorer sections of the population in the acquisition of higher and skill based education. This has implications for the type of employment generated and the wages earned. At the macro level, regression analysis highlighted the importance of higher education and skills in improving the economic performance of the States of India. However, the availability of educated and trained manpower needs to be complemented with other developmental infrastructure inputs in the form of availability of electricity and health to improve the economic performance of the States of India.